Vacuum closure for open ended containers

ABSTRACT

THE INVENTION HAS FOR ITS OBJECT A VACUUM CLOSURE ADAPTED FOR CONTAINERS WITH ONE OPEN END. SAID CLOSURE IS PROVIDED WITH MEANS FOR REDUCING THE PRESSURE OF AIR IN THE CONTAINERS WHICH USE SUCH CLOSURE.

May 23, 1972 G. J. WOLFE VACUUM CLOSURE FOR OPEN ENDED CONTAINERS FiledMarch 16, 1970 FIE- 1' 5 1 v w/ \y\ L J L4 M 2 1 00 Q: l /A NJ I 9 I li: 1|, 1!! IIIII/ 3 A/// 2 8 5 E m Ava m? G/P/EG Olen/01v h a FE y 1972G. J. WOLFE 3,664,542

VACUUM CLOSURE FOR OPEN ENDED CONTAINERS Filed March 16, 1970 v 3Sheets-Sheet 2 FIE- 5 5vfn7 147M May 23, 1972 G. J. WOLFE 3,554,542

VACUUM CLOSURE FOR OPEN ENDED CONTAINERS Filed March 16, 1970 11 Llj VFill-4 2 I I I 5 7 4 FIEfi/ K Illlll l l GRE60EV do/wy 1 1 01. PE

United States Patent Olfice 3,664,542 Patented May 23, 1972 3,664,542VACUUM CLOSURE FOR OPEN ENDED CONTAINERS Gregory John Wolfe, 15 Rue deNeufchatel, 1060 Brussels, Belgium Filed Mar. 16, 1970, Ser. No. 19,864Int. Cl. B65d 51/16 US. Cl. 220-44 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREThis invention has for its object a vacuum closure adapted forcontainers with one open end. Said closure is provided with means forreducing the pressure of air in the containers which use such closure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a vacuum closurefor open ended containers. Such closure by reducing the pressure of airwithin said containers is particularly useful when the latter are tocontain air-sensitive materials, more particularly food.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, a vacuum closurefor containers having one open end consists in a cap provided with meansfor reducing the pressure of air therein at least for a substantialperiod of time. More particularly said cap has a part thereofaccommodating sealingly the lips of the containers open end and anotherpart thereof enclosing a plunger slidably mounted therein, outlet meansfor the air located in the space enclosed by said plunger and said otherpart, and locking means for maintaining the plunger in the positionwherein a maximum amount of air is expelled from said other part. In apreferred embodiment of the invention, said cap has a lower partaccom-modating sealingly the lips of the containers open end and anupper part thereof enclosing a plunger slidably mounted therein betweena lowermost position adjacent to said lower part and an uppermostposition, said upper part having a side wall and an upper wall, thelatter forming the top of said cap, said upper wall having an outletaperture for air expelled by upward movement of said plunger, said upperwall also having a seal for hermetically closing said upper part of saidcap when said plunger is in said uppermost position, said cap furtherhaving means for locking said plunger in said uppermost position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of thepresent invention are de scribed hereinafter by way of example,referring to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a first embodiment of closure according tothis invention on an open-ended container, said closure having a plungerin lowermost position;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the plungerlocked in uppermost position;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view partly in side elevation and partly insection of a hinge connection between piston rod and plunger of theembodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a second embodiment of closure accordingto this invention on an open-ended container, said closure having aplunger in lowermost position;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the plungerlocked in uppermost position, and

FIG. 6 is a partly perspective, partly sectional View showing theplunger locked in the upper wall of the closure.

Preferably, a vacuum closure according to this invention, adapted forcontainers having one open end, comprises a cap 1 having a lower part 2accommodating sealingly (by means of a seal 3) the lip 4 of a containersopen end 5, and an upper part 6 enclosing a plunger 7 slidably mountedtherein, between a lowermost position (shown in FIG. 1) adjacent to saidlower part 2 and an uppermost position (shown in FIG. 2). Said upperpart 6 has a side wall 8 and an upper wall 9, the latter forming the topof said cap. Said upper wall 9 has an outlet aperture 10 for airexpelled by upward movement of said plunger 7. It should be understoodthat the plungers side wall makes contact so intimately with the sidewall of the upper part 6 that expelled air cannot escape be tween saidside walls. Said upper wall 9 also has a seal 11 for hermeticallyclosing said upper part 6 when said plunger 7 is in said uppermostposition (shown in FIG. 2).

In a first more preferred embodiment of this invention, the plunger 7 ishingedly connected to one end of a piston rod 12 whose other end extendswith clearance through said outlet aperture. In the uppermost positionshown in FIG. 2, the piston rod 12 is pivoted so as to lie flat on theupper walls outer face. As shown, said upper walls outer face has aradially extending groove 14 for accommodating said piston rod when thelatter is lying flat on said face. In addition, a latch 15 is providedfor locking the piston rod 12 in its position within the groove 14. Thepiston rod 12 has a grip portion 16 which extends perpendicularlythereto and is received, in said uppermost position of the plunger, inan extension 17 of the groove provided in the outer face of the sidewall 8.

FIG. 3 shows the hinge connection of the piston rod 12 to the plunger 7.Said hinge connection comprises a ball 18 fixed to the plunger 7. Arecess (not shown) of the ball 18 receives one end of the piston rod 12which is pivoted therein by means of a pivot 19.

A second preferred embodiment of this invention is shown in FIGS. 4-6 inwhich like reference numerals designate parts equivalent or similar tothose shown in FIGS. l-3.

The differences with respect to the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3consist in the fact that the plunger 7 has a base wall 20 carrying aninner grip portion 21 and an outer portion 22. The grip portion 21 has ahandle bar 23, a finger-receiving recess 24 and a side wall 25 withthreads 26 adapted for engaging threads 27 of an enlarged outletaperture 10. The outer portion 22 of the plunger 7 has a side wall 28adapted for engaging the inner face of the upper parts side wall 8 insuch a way that upward movement of the plunger 7 expels air only throughthe outlet aperture 10. When the plunger 7 is lifted high enough, thethreads 26 engage the threads 27 and the plunger may then be screwedwithin the aperture 10, and locked in its uppermost position as shown inFIG. 5.

Iclairn:

1. A vacuum closure for containers with one open end, which consists ina cap provided with means for reducing pressure of air therein, saidpressure-reducing means comprising an imperforate plunger exposed to theinterior of the container and movable in slidably sealed relation toenlarge the internal volume of the container, said cap having a partthereof accommodating sealingly the lips of the oontainers open end andanother part thereof enclosing said imperforate plunger slidably mountedtherein, outlet means for the air located in the space enclosed by saidplunger and said other part, and locking means for maintaining theplunger in the position wherein a maximum amount of air is expelled fromsaid other part.

2. A vacuum closure for containers with one open end, which consists ina cap provided with means for reducing pressure of air therein, saidpressure-reducing means comprising an imperforate plunger exposed to theinterior of the container and movable in slidably sealed relation toenlarge the internal volume of the container, said cap having a lowerpart accommodating sealingly the lips of the containers open end and anupper part thereof enclosing said impenforate plunger slidably mountedtherein between a lowermost position adjacent to said lower part and anuppermost position, said upper part having a side wall and an upperwall, the latter forming the top of said cap, said upper Wall having anoutlet aperture for air expelled by upwards movement of said plunger,said upper wall also having a seal for hermetically closing said upperpart of said cap when said plunger is in said uppermost position, saidcap further means for locking said plunger in said uppermost position.

3. A vacuum closure as in claim 2, wherein said plunger is hingedlyconnected to one end of a piston rod whose other end extends withclearance through said outlet aperture, said piston rod being, in saiduppermost position, pivotable so as to be positioned fiat on the upperWalls outer face, means being provided for locking said piston rod whenthe latter is lying fiat on said face.

4. A vacuum closure as in claim 3, wherein said upper walls outer facehas a radially extending groove for accommodating said piston rod whenthe latter is lying fiat on said face and a latch is provided forlocking said piston rod in its position within said groove.

5. A vacuum closure as in claim 4, wherein said piston rod has a gripportion extending perpendicularly thereto and said groove furtherextends in the outer face of said upper part so as to accommodate saidgrip portion in said uppermost position of the plunger.

6. A vacuum closure as in claim 2, wherein said plunger has a gripportion integral therewith, means being provided for locking said gripportion to said upper wall when said plunger is in said uppermostposition.

7. A vacuum closure as in claim 6, wherein said plungers grip portionhas threads which engage threads of said upper walls outlet aperturewhen said plunger is lifted high enough for locking said plunger in saiduppermost position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,313,444 4/1967 Katell 220441,910,930 5/1933 Morris 20646 3,135,411 6/1964 Osborne 215- 3,415,35712/1968 Van Natter 206-46 B LLOYD L. KING, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.2061, 46 B

